Nero CD Speed v4.70 - DVD-ROM:
A little editorial note here. Like a CD-ROM, you will get different benchmark results depending on what kind of discs you are using. You are probably going to get varying results from a full data disc to a single layer movie disc. You're also going to get different results for single and dual layer discs.
The DVD Speed website recommends using a single layer DVD-ROM disc with a capacity of at least 4GB. If you use a dual layer disc you probably won't get the best results because most DVD-ROM drives slow down to read them. Some even slow down to read single layer DVD-Video discs. To make a long story short, I am using a 4.37GB single layer, single sided disc for this test.
| Sony BWU-100A |
I-O DATA BRD-AM2B/U |
Pioneer BDR-101A |
|
| Transfer Speed Average: Start: End: |
6.15x 3.41x 8.22x |
6.15x 3.41x 8.23x |
6.22x 3.44x 8.32x |
| Seek Times Random: 1/3: Full: |
140ms 156ms 296ms |
133ms 147ms 285ms |
136ms 169ms 313ms |
| CPU Usage 1x: 2x: 4x: 8x: |
6% 9% 17% 32% |
6% 10% 17% 32% |
6% 10% 18% 33% |
The BWU-100A performed as expected when reading single layer DVD-ROM's. In our tests it started reading at 3.41x and reached a maximum transfer speed of about 8.22x.
Nero CD Speed v4.70 - DVD-R and DVD-RW:
First, we'll look at the drive's DVD-R and DVD-RW reading performance. For this I made copies of our DVD-ROM test disk using some general use 4x DVD-R and 2x DVD-RW media from Verbatim and then ran our usual DVD read tests with CD Speed. The results are below.
Verbatim DVD-R
| Sony BWU-100A |
I-O DATA BRD-AM2B/U |
Pioneer BDR-101A |
|
| Transfer Speed Average: Start: End: |
6.15x 3.40x 8.22x |
6.15x 3.41x 8.22x |
6.24x 3.46x 8.33x |
| Seek Times Random: 1/3: Full: |
152ms 166ms 305ms |
137ms 154ms 290ms |
147ms 178ms 328ms |
| CPU Usage 1x: 2x: 4x: 8x: |
6% 9% 17% 31% |
6% 9% 17% 32% |
6% 11% 19% 35% |
Verbatim DVD-RW
| Sony BWU-100A |
I-O DATA BRD-AM2B/U |
Pioneer BDR-101A |
|
| Transfer Speed Average: Start: End: |
6.16x 3.41x 8.25x |
6.16x 3.40x 8.24x |
4.72x 2.61x 6.31x |
| Seek Times Random: 1/3: Full: |
153ms 219ms 355ms |
138ms 201ms 340ms |
148ms 183ms 331ms |
| CPU Usage 1x: 2x: 4x: 8x: |
6% 9% 17% 31% |
6% 9% 17% 31% |
6% 11% 19% n/a |
Verbatim DVD-R DL
| Sony BWU-100A |
I-O DATA BRD-AM2B/U |
Pioneer BDR-101A |
|
| Transfer Speed Average: Start: End: |
6.17x 3.43x 8.22x |
6.17x 3.43x 8.22x |
4.72x 2.63x 6.28x |
| Seek Times Random: 1/3: Full: |
158ms 172ms 310ms |
140ms 152ms 284ms |
156ms 182ms 336ms |
| CPU Usage 1x: 2x: |
4% 8% |
4% 8% |
6% 11% |
Sony's new drive had no problems reading DVD-R, DVD-RW and DVD-R DL media. In all three cases, the BWU-100A reached a maximum transfer speed of about 8.2x.
Maxell 5x DVD-RAM
| Sony BWU-100A |
I-O DATA BRD-AM2B/U |
|
| Transfer Speed Average: Start: End: |
4.99x 4.97x 5.00x |
4.98x 4.97x 5.00x |
| Seek Times Random: 1/3: Full: |
354ms 529ms 1126ms |
338ms 509ms 1107ms |
| CPU Usage 1x: 2x: 4x: |
13% 26% 22% |
11% 37% 22% |
The BWU-100A has a maximum transfer speed of 5x when reading DVD-RAM discs. By looking at the screenshot, you can see that it reads at this speed from start to finish. Unfortunately, like the drive from I-O DATA, its seek times were also very high.
Nero CD Speed v4.70 - DVD+R and DVD+RW:
Next we'll look at the drive's DVD+R and DVD+RW reading performance. For this I made a copy of our DVD-ROM test disk using some 4x DVD+R and 2.4x DVD+RW media from Verbatim. I then ran our usual DVD read tests with CD Speed. The results are below.
Verbatim DVD+R
| Sony BWU-100A |
I-O DATA BRD-AM2B/U |
Pioneer BDR-101A |
|
| Transfer Speed Average: Start: End: |
6.15x 3.41x 8.22x |
6.15x 3.40x 8.22x |
6.23x 3.46x 8.34x |
| Seek Times Random: 1/3: Full: |
156ms 169ms 313ms |
141ms 155ms 294ms |
147ms 178ms 331ms |
| CPU Usage 1x: 2x: 4x: 8x: |
6% 10% 17% 32% |
6% 9% 17% 32% |
6% 10% 18% 33% |
Verbatim DVD+RW
| Sony BWU-100A |
I-O DATA BRD-AM2B/U |
Pioneer BDR-101A |
|
| Transfer Speed Average: Start: End: |
6.15x 3.41x 8.22x |
6.15x 3.41x 8.22x |
4.72x 2.60x 6.30x |
| Seek Times Random: 1/3: Full: |
156ms 170ms 338ms |
141ms 155ms 320ms |
153ms 186ms 339ms |
| CPU Usage 1x: 2x: 4x: 8x: |
6% 10% 17% 32% |
6% 10% 17% 32% |
6% 10% 18% n/a |
Verbatim DVD+R DL
| Sony BWU-100A |
I-O DATA BRD-AM2B/U |
Pioneer BDR-101A |
|
| Transfer Speed Average: Start: End: |
6.18x 3.44x 8.24x |
6.18x 3.44x 8.24x |
4.73x 2.63x 6.31x |
| Seek Times Random: 1/3: Full: |
159ms 170ms 310ms |
148ms 156ms 299ms |
159ms 186ms 337ms |
| CPU Usage 1x: 2x: |
5% 9% |
5% 8% |
6% 10% |
The BWU-100A's performance with DVD+R, DVD+RW and DVD+R DL media was very similar to what we saw with DVD-R, DVD-RW and DVD-R DL media.Once again, the drive reached a maximum transfer speed of about 8.2x.
Nero CD Speed v4.70 - DVD-Video:
For these tests I am using the US version of Transformers: The Movie on DVD. The disc is over 4GB and single sided.
| Sony BWU-100A |
I-O DATA BRD-AM2B/U |
Pioneer BDR-101A |
|
| Transfer Speed Average: Start: End: |
4.61x 2.56x 6.17x |
4.62x 2.56x 6.18x |
3.88x 2.15x 5.20x |
| Seek Times Random: 1/3: Full: |
145ms 162ms 302ms |
131ms 145ms 284ms |
137ms 167ms 314ms |
| CPU Usage 1x: 2x: 4x: |
6% 9% 17% |
6% 10% 17% |
6% 12% 26% |
The BWU-100A wasn't as fast when reading single layer DVD-Videos. In our tests, it reached a maximum speed of only 6x when reading both single and dual layer discs.
To see how well Sony's new drive worked as a DVD player, I watched a few scenes from Transformers: The Movie and Star Wars: The Phantom Menace using WinDVD 5 and PowerDVD 5. The BWU-100A had no problems playing back these movies with either program and was fairly quiet.
